I’m now on the train out of Vienna and on to Salzburg! So during my journey I’m taking a look back at my short time in Vienna.

It’s not a city I have ever had any desire to visit, it’s just a stop off on my way to Salzburg from Bratislava. I felt whilst I’m here in Austria I may aswell visit the capital.

So I booked 3 nights in the Wombats City Hostel based in the Naastricht area. A convenient location within walking distance from all major sights and across the street from the largest flea market in Vienna. This occurs every Saturday morning from 5am!

I didn’t have any plans for Vienna so I did my usual and booked in for a walking tour on the morning after my arrival. I normally do walking tours to introduce me to the city and give me an idea of what the main attractions are and where to visit during my time in a city. Unfortunately for me the walking tour I did through my hostel, whilst the guide was great and the tour was interesting, it didn’t highlight anything to me and I finished the tour with no better idea on how to spend my day.

The weather was awful and after walking around the city for a while I felt pretty fed up. After coming from beautiful Bratislava where the sun was shining and everything was picture perfect I didn’t find anything appealing in Vienna.

Vienna is a city I would compare to Berlin, Dublin and Manchester. I found it to be quite a dull grey city filled with your usual high street stores, fast food places and the odd cathedral and tourist attraction. I really struggled to fall in love with this place walking around.

It wasn’t until my final day where I ventured out of the city centre and on to some more frequently visited attractions that I found some beauty in the place. Unfortunately the storm was very bad so I couldn’t spend as much time as I would have liked in each place. I therefore can’t review what each place was like as I can’t say I’ve properly visited them if I’m honest.

These are some of the things I did enjoy seeing and would recommend you pay a visit to if you’re in Vienna:

Danube canal walk

I wrote a separate post about the street art here recently. Click to read.

Schönbrunn Palace

This is the most beautiful place I visited during my time in Vienna. The Palace gardens were very pretty but looking out from the gardens to the arches was just incredible. It really was a wow moment for me. Possibly because I wasn’t expecting it but also because it really was a beautiful sight. I walked up to the top where the arch was and from here you can see amazing far reaching views of Vienna. I highly recommend walking up here! You can also read my post about it here.

Hundertwasserhaus

This can be seen on all the postcards in Vienna so I knew it should be worth seeing for myself. It reminded me of the houses in Barcelona designed by Gaudi. This was a very similar style and really pretty.

St. Stephen’s Cathedral

A very pretty cathedral located right in the centre of Vienna.

The Original Sacher-Torte

This is actually the birthplace of the dessert Sacher Torte. You might not have heard of it but once you’ve visited Vienna you’ll know it! I recommend you going to the cafe. Even though its on the pricey side it is worth it for the experience and just being able to try the original dessert and where it was invented.

Prater Park

This place is insanely creepy. A fully functional theme park where people actually go and have fun! But to look at you would think it was about to be abandoned and placed in the next Silent Hill game.

All in all I think Vienna has potential for a beautiful stay here if you get lucky with the weather. Unfortunately I didn’t and it really restricted being able to walk around the gardens and admire anything which is such a shame. Maybe next time?